Caprese Salad

 

I love caprese salad.  It's one of my oddball comfort foods.  It reminds me of when I was younger, and would try to wow my grandparents with my cooking ability (little did I know how little I didn't know!)  I remember serving it up with some homemade Italian bread, with the caprese salad placed neatly in a bowl and my family devouring it.  It's one of the first things I ever made where I had hope that I could really be good at this cooking thing, so it'll always be a bit special to me, regardless of the fact that it's incredibly easy to make.  I think it goes to show that sometimes the best things in life are the simplest.  

Since we've been living in a hotel for the last few weeks, I've had to find different ways to make healthy, fresh food.  I don't want to live on take-out or go out to dinner all the time.  I have a preschooler.  She needs her sleep, and we all need some time to relax! 

Caprese Salad is literally the most simple, yet fancy seeming dish that you can make.  And all it takes is a tomato, a ball of fresh mozzarella, a few basil leaves, 2 tablespoons of some balsamic vinegar and 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, with a dash of salt and pepper.  It doesn't matter if you cube, slice, or chop your cheese and tomatoes.  It will be perfectly delicious regardless of how you present it.  Does it get more simply, or more lovely than that? 

Asparagus!

I really feel like asparagus gets a bad wrap.  For whatever reason, some people just won't eat it- or even try it!  How can you know if you like something or not, if you don't even try it?  I'm sure that there were folks out there that thought pasta looked funny, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't like pasta.

But I digress.  Asparagus is one of those things that can be cooked very simply, and taste anything but simple.  It can liven up any plate.  Besides it's being delicious, I love that Laela and I can make it together. I personally feel that any recipe that can be made mostly by a toddler, can easily be made by a grown-up.

Asparagus

You'll need:

• 1 bunch of asparagus
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 350-degrees F.
• Place a piece of foil on a cookie sheet.
• Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the foiled cookie sheet.
• Rinse and dry the asparagus.
• Take the asparagus with both hands.  Snap the asparagus.  It will break where it is meant to naturally. because the stalk is the natural breaking point for the asparagus.  You'll be surprised to find that the asparagus will be mostly even. 
• Place the asparagus on the cookie sheet, one quarter inch apart.
• Drizzle with a little more olive oil.
• Shake some onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper on the asparagus.  (This pretty fool-proof.  Laela loves to shake the spices on.  I watch to make sure she doesn't get too crazy with the salt and pepper, but our shakers aren't overly liberal, so it's not really too much of an issue.  This is the kind of recipe that no matter how much or how little of the onion and garlic you put on, it'll be amazing.)
• Place the pan in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.  15 minutes if you like it with a little crisp to it.

Enjoy!

*Variations:

• You can use fresh garlic instead if you'd like, just finely chop 2 cloves of garlic, and sprinkle it over the asparagus.
• You can also use fresh onion.  Chop 1/2 onion, drizzle it in a little bit of olive oil, and sprinkle it over the asparagus.
• Chopped red pepper added to the recipe is also delicious, and tastes great served over pasta, or with roasted chicken.